While patients rarely call after hours, having direct access to their physician outside of clinic hours provides tremendous reassurance.

Almost never. The term “call“ in a traditional practice describes the process of pooling responsibility for many physicians’ practices onto a single physician at a set interval. This “call” can be a very frustrating process, caring for thousands of unknown patients with a multitude of needs that were unmet during clinic hours. The opposite occurs when a concierge physician is available after hours, caring for a few hundred well-known patients whose care needs are already scrupulously addressed during clinic hours.

Ironically, the closer relationship formed between a concierge doctor and his or her patients results in a greater level of trust and assurance with less anxiousness needing to be addressed by afterhours communication. Furthermore, this closer relationship creates a reluctance for a patient to want to “bother” his or her doctor. In 15 years as a concierge physician, I have experienced many more instances of a patient who should’ve called and did not rather than the opposite situation.

In the traditional model of patient care, physicians are overwhelmed with clinical and administrative tasks. Patients can become a never-ending drain of energy. The concierge model allows for an emotional reset. With fewer patients, the physician – patient bond can be reconstructed as a source of accomplishment, satisfaction, and pride. In this context, the potential for an after-hours phone call does not constitute a further burden but an opportunity for empathetic caring.

You can have 10% of your patients at Banner Peak Health be on scholarship, exempt from any retainer fees. Also, as a physician at Banner Peak Health, you will have markedly fewer clerical and administrative tasks compared to employment in a fee-for-service practice, freeing up hours that can be used to donate your time to medical opportunities outside of Banner Peak Health.

We are small, flexible, and dedicated to improving the patient care experience. Your insights, concerns, and advice will be an integral part of building the best possible clinic.

That’s exactly the problem we have been designed to correct. Having a smaller group of patients allows you to fully participate in assisting your patients with urgent health care needs in a convenient fashion allowing you to more readily solve patient problems with less resource use.

Understandable. Most EMRs were not designed to optimize the physician user experience. We use Elation Health — an EMR designed and used by primary care doctors. Also, because we care for hundreds and not thousands of patients, the amount of time interfacing with an EMR is markedly reduced.

Unfortunately, the current fee-for-service business model creates an antagonism between providing quality care for patients and income for the clinic. Most interventions that would enhance the quality of care such as more time with doctors or more support staff would negatively impact the bottom line of the practice. The opposite is true for a retainer-based concierge medical practice. Patient retention relies on providing the highest quality care. Patients pay a retainer fee that provides the resources to make it possible. Everyone pulls in the same direction!

Exactly! Doctors can provide the best care when they are free to be doctors — spending time with patients, reading medical articles, and actually thinking about cases and discussing them with other doctors. Banner Peak Health creates the perfect environment for this process.